Amph [Doctor Who] Series 7 Discussion - SPOILERS

Awesome prequel, awesome trailer. Can't wait for Christmas.

Yes, because he thought it would collide with his Sherlock commitment, i.e. John Watson.

 

David is a much more unique bloke, and that's what puzzles me. He plays too many normal English guys on TV over here. He should be playing someone larger than life. But... he doesn't. Martin does have a specific type, and I was trying to communicate that. That is fortunate, but he still has to be of the right profile to play Dent, Watson and Bilbo. I'll readily admit I have no idea of how casting really works, though. I'm just looking at their respective roles and - clearly naïvely - thinking that a controlled rise like Freeman's stands in stark contrast to the unfocused path Tennant has taken - that Martin's eye is on the prize in a way David's isn't. Sure, David can't control what comes across his desk, but he plainly doesn't need to do half of the rubbish he does do.

Family life... well yeah, maybe that does have a part to play. I am guilty of looking at actors in isolation.

 

Yeah I know. I'm just saying, it almost didn't happen, and ironically it might not have had MGM not gone under and delayed things.

Another thing against David is that he was a lot older than his contemporaries when he got his first break, which is really too bad. Damian Lewis, another of my favorite actors, also took about 10 years to get really noticed in the US after Band of Brothers. During that time, I followed everything he did and really enjoyed a lot of it. But no one knew who he was until Homeland started getting recognition (and his face on bilboards all over LA). The thing is, he was 30 when BoB aired. David was 38 when he left DW. Which doesn't really give him 10 years to gradually build.

As to Martin's career path... nah, never felt very controlled to me. I spent years feeling the same way about his roles as I now feel about David's. Hindsight, you know? But in honesty, had he not been cast in The Hobbit he probably never would have become widely known in the US. It feels more like fantastic luck than anything, which is how a lot of careers go.

 

Spoiler

So are we to presume based on the prequel that Sherlock Holmes doesn't exist as an actual person in Moffat's Who? Well I guess that's one way of keeping them seperate.

solojones, I think I heard reports that Freeman had initally turned Bilbo down because of concerns of how it would conflict with the filming of Sherlock. Then I guess those concerns were worked out? IDK. Edit: May I also point out that Sir Patrick Stewart was somewhere in his mid to late 40's when he got TNG? Just saying.

And the trailer is awesome!!!

 

Hindsight is as they say, I know. I still lament David's screen choices, though. On stage, though. OMFG.

 

I don't know. You can't assume he has much choice. And even if he does, holy crap do film shoots suck up your whole life. There are actually plenty of actors who don't feel it's worth it.

 

The new Christmas Special seems to resemble A Christmas Carol which is my favourite of all the Christmas Specials.

 

Spoiler

I find it very interesting that all of Moffat's Christmas Specials have seemingly taken place in the Past (or on human colonized planets made to look like a past Earth era), whearas by and large most of RTD's Christmas specials took place on present day Earth or just in orbit above present day Earth.

 

I'm glad he uses his time for such gems as that The Decoy Bride thing that Netflix keeps recommending to me because I watched Doctor Who.

 

That probably took like 6 weeks to shoot and he just went to Scotland. Not quite the same as living on location in NZ for a year

Anyway my general point is that I would cast David in everything, but as with any other job there are all sorts of reasons you may or may not take a gig or even be offered a gig. I just wouldn't assume anything.

 

I made the mistake of trawling through ebay.

Life just isn't fair sometimes.

 

"HAVE. YOU. BEEN. NAAAAUGHTYYYY??!!!"

 

I wasn't getting alerts, so I'm catching up now.

If that companion was John Watson...

Nooooooo! Want!

It looks so Laytony, too. The hat is great.

 

Moffat's Christmas specials continue to take their titles (sometimes with a twist) from existing stories - first 'A Christmas Carol', then 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and now 'The Snowman' (the children's book by Raymond Briggs). The kindly Snowman in Briggs' tale vs. the snowmen in the trailer. I don't like to think about the results.

 

Today I read "The Angel's Kiss" by Melody Malone - that e-book released in conjunction with TATM. It's not the story The Doctor and Amy were reading. It's a completely different tale. It's not very long (45 minutes is more than enough time) - but that fits. Something this shallow doesn't need or want to be any longer. It's not very good, but it's not bad. It's fun, reasonably well-executed pulp fiction with enough nods and winks to Doctor Who to keep me reading (the plot Melody becomes embroiled in is very Doctor Who, particularly the 'monsters'). I enjoyed each nod, if I'm honest. Eventually comes a nod that's completely unambiguous, but if you fail to see that one coming then I don't suppose you know anything about the franchise. Malone is River's ego on the very edge of overdrive. Even when she's called upon to be appalled she barely manages it. She spends most of her wrapped up in praise of herself - mind and body. She is fun, though. I'm glad I've read it but shall not be thinking any more about it. I want the actual book The Doctor was reading, last page and all, please BBC.

 

I wanted to read this book, but now I'm disappointed that it's not the same thing as the book in the episode.

 

I wonder if the version Alex Kingston reads is similar to the e-book or the episode.

 

I think Moffat prefers the more "classic" Charles Dickens type of stories where amongst the upbeat optimism, there's also a slight undercurrent of darkness. Once again, A Christmas Carol was the best example of this. For a Christmas Special, it had some pretty heavy scenes in there, like when Gamboon's character is about to strike the young boy as his father once did to him. That's my favourite of the Christmas Specials because rather than RTD's style of story where it's merely set during Christmas, Moffat's stories seem to be stories about Christmas. I prefer the latter. Though I have to say the previous Christmas Special (2011) was a disappointment. But I am looking forward to this one.

 

I expect to be rather bored by this one. Victorian Christmas? Gee, how original! What's next, a story set during the Blitz?

 

If they were really interested in taking risks, they'd set it in Bethlehem but too many viewers would be up in arms over aliens and monsters being involved during a certain birth...

 

Er, I wasn't suggesting anything like that. I enjoyed the RTD-era "it just happens to be Christmas" approach.

 

I wonder what the reaction was to the Top Gear crew reenacting the Nativity scene with the guys as the three not - so - wisemen and a baby Stig in the manger?

 

Most likely innocuous since crass humour is a part of the TG shtick and unless Jeremy opens his mouth too wide, it's generally met without controversy. But because it is still widely debated as to whether Doctor Who is a show that is marketed either for children, families or adults, the DW audience seems to be quite sanctimonious over what makes it into the show. Waters Of Mars was a pretty controversial show because of its tone and certain events, I personally thought it was the very best of the Tennant era. So if an episode like that which is totally devoid of religion and but delves into political morality, then DW is a pressure cooker waiting to burst.

 

I kind of wish they'd rotate a bit. I like both approaches and I feel like either one of them gets a bit unexciting if done too much.

Then again, as an American I think I mostly tend to regard Christmas specials as just regular episodes.

 

Spoiler

Oh Gatiss did the voiceover for the prequel. That explains the Jenny/Vastra/Strax info dump given that he's writing them in one of his episodes later in the season.

Also, I wonder if the reason the Doctor is so moody and distant and saying he's 'retired' in the prequel is because he's sent River to the Library already? I hope not!

Also I'm snickering at Strax's "A Grenade!" remark in the trailer.